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Yet only two candidates – both backed by special interests – are allowed in the debates. Why? The argument can be made that only major-party candidates have a chance at winning partisan elections. If true, part of the reason is that minor party candidates can't get media attention needed to build support. Allowing them to debate would help ease this perpetual cycle.

Any presidential candidate who can muster enough signatures and support to get his or her name on the ballot in the majority of states should be allowed to debate. Only then can debate viewers see they have real choices.

Béa Tiritilli

Santa Ana

Lessons learned

We learned from the first presidential debate that Obamacare defines people under age 26 as children. Does that mean that the Democrats also will raise the driving age to 26, the draft age to 26, and the drinking age to 26?

The president repeatedly attacked Gov. Mitt Romney for not stating specific details, when working out the details is exactly the job of representatives and senators, as Gov. Romney indicated. We do know all of the details about the current president's dismal performance, which has created massive misery, unemployment, debt and international chaos.

Romney made the key point that the proper role of government is to help free people, rather than to take over private functions. All of the big-government takeovers of private functions are complete failures – schools, health care, everything else.

The president outright lied when he stated that he was open to working with Republicans and Democrats. He has not done so.

Instead, he turned everything over to Democrats former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and their minions. If people believe such stuff, they deserve what they get, but the rest of us most certainly do not.

F. Stephen Masek

Mission Viejo

The president's job

About 99 percent of the issues that President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney “debated” about last night are not what an American president is constitutionally tasked to do.

I didn't hear anything about what a president is actually supposed do. All this talk about Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid and health care leaves me cold.

The American people want the government on all levels, to get out of their lives. Period.

Lawrence S. Wach

San Clemente

Obama misspeaks

On the one hand, we had one candidate who offered solutions and made every attempt to clarify answers, in spite of the moderator's attempt to cut him short. And we had another candidate who spewed the party talking points, and misspoke about the other candidate's positions.

If you watched the debate you know which is which. What a terrible showing for the president.

Steve Christle

Orange

The party platitudes

The debates showed that President Barack Obama can clearly recite the platitudes of his party but has a weak grip on the issues. Gov. Mitt Romney was presidential and showed an authoritative grasp of the root causes of the problems today and the solutions required to move the U.S. forward.

The most important takeaway in my mind was Romney's statement that, no matter how many times you repeat a falsehood, that does not make it correct. President Obama simply recited platitude after platitude, and after a while he seemed to speak clearly, but completely out of context on nearly every point. It got boring and nonsensical by the end of the debate.

I felt sorry for him.

Louie Kish

Santa Ana

Fiscal bait and switch

President Obama referred several times to a $3 billion tax cut for the middle class. Could he be talking about the cut in Social Security withholding taxes that fund everyone's retirement? Isn't that like your boss telling you that he's giving you a $100 raise and then telling you it's coming out of your company 401(k)?

Matt Van Gorden

Huntington Beach

Going with my gut

My gut reaction to debate No. 1:

GOP nominee Mitt Romney hot, President Barack Obama cool. Romney wins on style. He was aggressive and impressive but repetitive and skirted detail. Obama wins on substance, politely asking Romney for details and emphasizing that Romney's whole campaign is short on specifics.

There will be two more presidential debates, and one vice-presidential debate, hopefully digging into foreign policy, the necessity for compromise and the problem with obstruction to the workforce.

Winner on first debate: Obama on points. Won on Medicare and Obamacare, but did not gain on jobs.

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